POTD 9/3 2013: Roll the Dice...

"Roll the Dice..." ©2008 Lars Clausen
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For a while, I tried my hand at (micro-)stock photography, but found it an extremely full market. The only way to really get anywhere in it would be to take either a lot of pictures or very unusual but interesting pictures, in both cases mainly with people for business purposes. I later moved on to doing just art photography, uploading pictures to RedBubble.com and selling through there for a much tidier price. This is one of two similar pictures that comprise my total sales from there and more income than from all other sites together, by far. They were bought as wedding presents for an avid gamer, and I couldn't wish for a better use.

POTD 8/3 2013: Bike portal

"Bike Portal" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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Another early SLR days photo, this one from the path around Brabrand Sø, Denmark, on a slightly hazy Spring morning. The bicyclist was not entirely accidental (as I remember it), but something I waited to get. That the rays turned out so well was more luck, and even so I had to do a fair amount of fiddling to get some parts of them to not be discolored. I found this picture so successful that I used it for the professional business cards back when I had a photo business.

POTD 7/3 2013: Greedy gull

"Greedy Gull" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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An old picture, from the ferry between Denmark and Norway. The gulls were quite proficient at sweeping in and picking food from between people's fingers.

This was not long after I got my first SLR, so I was testing its limits - which turned out to be surprisingly wide. What I like about this photo is that I got the texture on the body and at the same time the wings spread out like that adds drama. It's slightly cropped from the right and bottom to focus on those parts. Unfortunately, there is a slight amount of movement to the gull, even though the shot was taken at 1/1000th of a second.

POTD 3/3 2013

"Hazy morning landscape II" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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I'm going back through some of my best pictures from previous years, to getting into the rhytm of uploading and posting and iron out wrinkles in my workflow. This shot is from not long after I got my first SLR, from a morning shot on Mols. I like how the mist creates a sense of distance and a golden, otherworld glow, but I have had trouble getting the details the way I like them.

A lack of preparation on my part...

My brother +aurin ræder and I have started a mutual photography challenge. The first challenge is to make a picture of "soft water" using "high key". Not too hard here in winter, I think, we have a nice river right downtown and snow abounds. Alas, my lack of preparation (and an unstable Gorillapod) thwarted my first attempts.

I had to wait for +Mickey Blake to come home so +The Frida Diaries wouldn't feel all abandoned and start barking. No problem, she comes home with about an hour before sundown. So I start packing up my gear, find lenses, pick a tripod (I have three, plus a monopod for hiking), look for the neutral-density filter in all the wrong places, etc. etc. By the time I get out the door, almost half an hour has gone, and it's cloudy so there won't be much late light. By bad luck of the U-bahn draw, it takes as long again to get down to Thalkirchen, plus some time to get to an interesting water spot.

By the time I found something looking like what I had in mind, the light was low enough that the lack of an ND filter was not an issue. At ISO 100, I got 15s at f/8 right away, easily enough to blur the water. Putting my Gorillapod near the water's edge, I aimed for various shots at low angles including some interesting water and snow-covered rocks. Only a few shots in, the light was too dim for that, and I had to up the ISO. A few shots later, the only way to get enough light was to take out the small but bright pocket light that +Richard Jørgensen had provided me with years back, which just happened to be in my pocket. First time I tried light painting, in theory - in practice, it was just a main light. Focusing was of course awful, though using the flip-out display with manual focus seemed to work ok. It was hard to tell, really. Eventually, my light gave out, and I had to return.

Back home, my shots turned out horrible. Every single one was either shaken or stirred blurred, or both. While the compositions seemed OK, there was just not enough detail to be really striking. It was hard to tell if the focus was off, or the Gorillapod had just bent downwards during exposure. In either case, failure.

Morale: Prepare your equipment ahead of time, so you don't have to spend valuable light-time doing it at the last moment. Also, I need to get more used to what the Gorillapod can and can't do.

Photographer for hire

If you like my photographic style, and would like to hire me for a photography session in or around München, drop me an email. Just don't expect me to be cheaper than a professional photographer - I don't want to underbid already hard-pressed people depending on this for a living. Also don't depend on me for anything hugely important, like big advertisement campaigns or really expensive weddings. I am, and for a while at least will stay, a proficient amateur. I have practised until I can get it right. Professionals have practiced until they can't get it wrong. With a professional, you will get a good result. With me, you might get a great result, or you might get a failure.

But if you like what you see, and want me to try it out on you or yours, I'm always up for challenges. I even do kids and animals well, much to my own surprise.

Painterly photos

Every now and then, I come across a photo that looks more like a painting than a photo, and they always fascinate me. I want to make photos like this.

I am not sure what makes them so painting-like, but I guess it's a combination of limited palette, deep focus, very well-laid soft light with details in the shadows yet some really dark areas. This example shows off +Hugh Jackman in this way: